Tail gate construction for station wagons



l May 1, 1951 KAMMERAAD 2,551,010

TAIL GATE CONSTRUCTION FOR STATION WAGONS Filed March 29, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet l M y 1951 R. KAMMERAATD 2,551,010

TAIL GATE CONSTRUCTION FOR STATION WAGONS Filed March 29, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

BY Liga/lzz nwmcza film/x1. lddllll ATTORNEYS.

Patented May 1 1951 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE TAIL GATE CONSTRUCTION FOR STATION WAGON S 4. Claims. (01. 292-2 7) The present invention relates to combined means for securing .a door in the closed position and releasing it therefrom, and for holding the door in any one of a plurality of positions between its fully opened and fully closed position. The invention will be specifically illustrated and described in connection with the upper tail gate of an automobile station wagon in connection with which it is particularly advantageous.

The object of the invention, generally stated, is the provision of a combined door locking and adjusting means having a single operating handle shaft which serves to lock and open the door in and from its closed position, as well as adjust it in a plurality of intermediate positions between its Closed and fully open positions.

More specific objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of the invention, reference may now be had to the following detailed description thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a phantom view of an automobile station wagon with the rear end thereof shown in solid line, the upper and lower tail gates being shown in broken line in their opened positions;

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the inside of the upper tail gate and associated door frame when locked in the closed position;

' Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 with the upper tail gate unlocked and ready for opening;

Figure 4 is a vertical cross-sectional View, partly in elevation, taken through the center of the upper tail gate and showing the gate section locked in one of the intermediate positions, with the fully closed and fully opened positions indicated in broken line;

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4', but showing the adjusting mechanism turned to the unlocked or opened position whereby the upper tail gate may be freely moved either up ordown;

Figure 6 is a sectional View taken on line 6-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line l-I of Figure i; and .s

Figure 8 is a fragmentary elevational view taken on line 8-0 of Figure 2.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, a station wagon is indicated generally at [0, the back end of which is provided with upper and lower tail gates ll and 12 respectively. The present invention is concerned ith c m ination means for locking the upper tail gate II in the closed posi- 2 tion, as well as for adjusting it in any desired open position.

When the tail gate of the station agon i0 is fully opened, the upper ate it! will be raised to the fully open position, as. hown in qk n l n while the lower gate 12 will be downwardly turned to its swere o t n. a sh wn in br en l n When thus ra sed xt nsion mea are r ui ed fe holdin the uppe tail ga 1 I n su p tion so as to prevent it from falling shut. Furtherm e, when t e lower tai se s: 12 is cl e there is f quen need to Open t e u per ail s t i I or pu pose of ent lat on F r his Pu po edi e abl u pe t mea a eded so a the g I l b sequi'esi p ura i f os i ns i mediate th c osed and ful ais d d nd upon th amount o ve i tion e shown in Figures 4 and 5, the door or tail sat H i hi e jacen s upp d to h t f the doo fram 3- On s c o o the hinge is secured to the upper part of the gate! l while another section l5 of the hinge is secured to the inside .o f frame i3. Hingesection I4 has aknuckle section which fits within a corresponding porticn pf the hinge section l5, so as to turn there within, allowing the tail gate I! to be opened and closed from the bottom.

Referring particularly to Figures 2 and 3, the reference character it designates a rock shaft which is supported onthe inside of the tail gate section I I along the lower edge thereof by means of the two clamps H, I! allowing the rock shaft E6 to rock or turn therein. At its opposite ends, the rock shaft i 5 has crank arms I8. At the mid die, the rock shaft It is provided with an arcuate crank portion 20. It will be noted that the crank arms [8 lie in a plane which intersects the plane of the arcuate'crank portion .29 at approximately right angles, although it will be understood that this exact relationship is not important. However, the two planes should preferably intersect at a substantial angle with each .other.

When the arcuate crank portion 20 is turned up fiat against the .door or gate section II (as shown in Figures 2 and 4) the crank arms l 8 will be turned put away from the tail gate section II, so as to engage the biased engaging edges 2! of a pair of catches 22, as shown in Figures 2 and 8. The catches -22 are secured to the vertical sides of the door frame J3 adjacent the opposite lower corners of the tail gate ll. By this arrangement, the tail gate l I is securely held in its closed position in theframe I 3.

When the arcuate crank portion 20 of the rock shaft it is turned down away from the inside of the door, as indicated in Figures 3 and 5, the crank arms 58 at the opposite ends thereof will be turned down and inwardly against the opposite corners of the door, as shown. The crank arms I8 are thus moved out of engagement with the catches 22, thereby allowing the tail gate section to be outwardly opened.

The mechanism for turning the rock shaft I is as follows: A handle shaft 23 extends through the tail gate section I I, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. At its opposite ends the shaft 23 is provided with an outside handle 24 and an inside handle 25. Suitable linkage is interconnected between the handle shaft 23 and the arcuate crank portion 25 whereby when the handles 24 and 25 are turned to one position, as shown in Figures 2 and 4, the arcuate crank portion will be turned up against the inside of the tail gate ll, while when the handles are turned approximately 90, the arcuate crank portion 20 will be turned out away from the tail gate II. The linkage connection may be that shown in Patent 2,000,245 granted May 7, 1935.

In addition to the foregoing arrangement for releasably locking and unlocking the upper tail gate I! in the closed position, the present invention also incorporates adjustable support means whereby the gate ll may be adjustably positioned between the fully closed and the fully opened positions.

At the opposite sides of the tail gate ll, telescopic links, indicated generally at 26, are provided which serve to interconnect the vertical sides of the door frame H with the adjacent sides of the tail gate H. The telescopic links 26 comprise interfitting C-shaped members 21 and 28, respectively. The free end of the outer telescopic section 2? of each link 26 is stationarily pivoted at 35 to a bracket 3! secured to the adjacent side of the door frame I3. The free end of the inner telescopic section 28 of each link 26 is pivotally connected to a bracket 29 attached to the adjacent lower corner of the gate H, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. Thus, the outer section 21 of each link 26 is stationarily pivoted adjacent the side of the door frame, while the associated inner section 28 is free to slide in and out.

In order to adjust the length of the telescopic links 26 in a plurality of positions between the fully closed and the fully extended positions thereof, stop means are provided on each link so as to be actuated from the rocker shaft 15. Referring particularly to Figures 4, 5 and 6, it will be seen that the lower flange of the outer telescopic section 2? of each link 25 is provided with a series of notches 32. A bell crank 33 is pivotally connected to the inner telescopic section 28 by a rivet 34. The bell crank 33 has a notch engaging projection 35 (Figure 6) on one arm thereof adapted to engage in the notches 32, thereby preventing relative movement between the sections 2'! and 28.

The bell crank 33 of each link 26 is actuated by a connecting link 36 provided with a slot 31 at one end which fits over a headed rivet 38 through the upper arm of the bell crank 33, and pivotally connected at its opposite end to the adjacent crank arm is.

The slot 3? in each connecting link 36 allows lost motion between the rock shaft l6 and the bell crank 33. By this arrangement, when the bell crank 33 is in the position shown in Figure 4 with the notch engaging projection 35 engaging in one of the notches 32, initial rotation of either handle 24 or handle 25 will not actuate the bell crank 33 until the handles have been turned part way to the open position, as shown in Figures 3 and 5. Likewise, when the bell crank 33 is in the open position, as shown in Figure 5, initial movement of the handles 24 or 25 will not actuate the bell crank 33 until the handles have been partly turned to the closed position.

In operation, the door closing and adjusting combination operates as follows: Assuming that the upper tail gate II is in the closed position and that it is desired to open it part way, either the handle 24 or the handle 25 is turned to the position shown in Figure 5, thereby releasing the crank ends I8 from the catches 22 and at the same time turning the notch engaging projections 35 to their non-engaging position. Now by pulling or pushing on the handle, depending upon which one is being grasped, the door or gate section II can belifted up to any desired position. When the desired position has been obtained, the handles are turned to the position shown in Figure 4 with the door being raised or lowered slightly to bring each projection 35 into engagement with the next adjacent notch 32.

When it is desired to close the tail gate ll, either of the handles 24 or 25 is turned so as to release each notch engaging projection 35 from the notch 32 in which it is engaged, and the door is then lowered to the closed position and the handle turned so as to lock the crank ends l8 under the catches 22.

Since certain changes may be made in the foregoing construction, and different embodiments of the invention may be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter described hereinabove, or shown in the accompanying drawings, be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed as new is:

1. For combination with a door frame, having a door fitting therewithin, and having hinge means connecting one side of said door with the adjacent side of said frame; mean for securing said door in its fully closed position and in a plurality of positions between its fully closed and fully opened positions, which comprises in combination, telescopic link means, having a pair of interfitting link members, adapted to be secured on at least one side of said door; other than the side which is hinged, with one end of one interfitting member of said link adapted to be pivoted adjacent one side of said door frame and with the corresponding end of the other interfitting link member adapted to be pivotally connected to the corresponding side of said door; adjustable stop means provided on said telescopic link means whereby the length of said link means may be adjusted in a plurality of positions between its shortened and extended conditions, a fixed catch adapted to be secured on the side of said door frame having said telescopic link means, a crank, one arm of which is adapted to be mounted for rotational movement on said door, with the other arm being free to either move into engagement with said catch so as to lock said door in said fully closed position or to move away from said catch so as to unlock said door; a connecting link between said catch engaging crank arm and said adjustable stop means for operating the latter, a handle adapted to be accessibly positioned on said door, and operating means interconnecting said handle with said first mentioned crank arm mounted on said door, whereby, when said handle is turned to one position, it will move said catch engaging crank arm into locking engagement with said catch and, when turned to another position, it will move said same crank arm out of said locking catch engagement position; and whereby, when said door is moved out of the fully closed position, operation of said handle serves to operate said stop means through said crank.

For combination with a door frame, having a door fitting therewithin, and having hinge means connecting the tops of said door and frame whereby said door may be opened bycswinging out the bottom thereof; means for securing said door in its fully closed position and in a plurality of positions intermediate its fully closed and fully opened positions, which comprises in combination, a pair of telescopic link means adapted to be secured on opposite sides of said door, with one end of one telescoping member of each link adapted to be stationarily pivoted tothe adjacent side of said door frame and with one end of the other telescoping member of each telescopic link adapted to be pivoted to the corresponding side of said door, both of said telescoping members of each telescopic link means having a C-shaped cross-section and adapted for mutual sliding relative movement, one within the other, the lower flange on the outer telescoping member of each telescopic link having a plurality of closely spaced notches formed therein; a bell crank pivoted to the inner telescoping member of each telescopic link means and hav ing a lower arm distinguished by a notch engaging projection adapted to engage said spaced notches of the associatedouter telescoping member whereby the length of each telescopic link means may be adjusted in a plurality of positions between its shortened and extended conditions; a pair of fixed catch members, one adapted to be fastened adjacent each lower corner of said i handle shaft with said arcuate crank portion whereby rotation of said handle shaft rotates said arcuate crank portion away from or fiat against said door, said crank arms being so 5 angularly displaced relative to said arcuate crank portion that, when the latter is turned flat against said door, said adjoined crank arms will engage said fixed catches so as to secure said door in a tightly closed position, and said crank arms will disengage from said catches when said arcuate crank portion is turned away from said door; and a pair of connecting link members each pivoted at one end to one of said crank arms and at the other end to an upper arm of one of said bell cranks, whereby, when said crank arms arebmoved to said catch engaging position, said bell cranks will cause said as sociated notch engaging projections to engage adjacent notches, and whereby, when said crank arms are removed from said catch engaging position, said bell cranks will remove said projections from their notch engaging positions.

T e structure called for in claim 2 wherein each of said connecting link members has a slot and pin connection with the upper arm of the associated bell crank so as to provide lost motion between these interconnected parts of the combination.

4. The structure recited in claim 1, in which the adjustable stop means is characterized by a plurality of spaced notche formed along the length of one of said telescopic link members, and a bell crank pivotally mounted on said other interfitting link member, one arm of said bell crank being distinguished by a notch engaging projection thereon, whereby, upon the turning of said handle in one direction, said projection will be moved into engagement with an adjacent notch; and upon turning said handle in an opposite direction said projection will be removed from said previously engaged notch.

RAYMOND KAMMERAAD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 411,557 Scarborough Sept. 24, 1889 1,955,435 Moore Apr. 1'7, 1934 2,059,692 Griswold Nov. 3, 1936 2,203,876 Peterson June 11, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 17,224 Switzerland Dec. 28, 1898 

